The Mayflower was built in Combermere, Ontario and was launched and commissioned in June 1904. Length was 77 feet and was a flat bottom wooden boat designed with shallow draught for navigating the shallow waters over some shoals and sand bars on the Madawaska River. She had a crew of three - owner/Captain John Hudson, pilot/wheelsman Aaron Parcher and fireman/engineer Tom Delaney. It had low light level running lights and was never designed to be on the water at night. On Tuesday, November 12, 1912 the Mayflower had made what was to be the last return trip from Combermere to Barry's Bay for the season earlier in the day. However, a local Combermere Councillor, William Boehme persuaded Captain John C. Hudson to make a second trip later that day to pick up the body of his brother-in-law, John Brown, from the Grand Trunk Railway station in Barry's Bay to be buried in Schutt before winter. John died as a result of a gun accident in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. There were twelve people plus the casket onboard the boat when she left Barry's Bay about 7 p.m.
It began to snow at about 9:00 p.m. and between what is now called Mayflower Island and the shore the boat sank quickly for no apparent reason without warning in about 25 feet of water. Eight passengers, William Boehme, George Bothwell, William Murphy, Robert Pachal, Mrs. William McWhirter and crew John Hudson, Aaron Parcher and Tom Delaney drowned.
But here is where the story takes a strange turn.......Four men (O'Brien, Harper, Imlach and Peverley) scrambled to the top of the wheelhouse and were waist deep in cold water. It is said the ship went down so fast that there was no time to put on a life-jacket. Everyone grabbed what ever they could find to hang on to. The casket just happened to drift by the wreck and the 4 men hung on to that coffin for dear life and set out to now named Parcher island about 500 feet away. Ripley (Ripley's Believe it or Not) reported worldwide at the time,"The corpse that saved 3 men from drowning!". Paddy O'Brien who had hung on to the casket with the other three died of hypothermia upon reaching Parcher island before rescuers arrived later the next day.
This cache is placed on the smaller of the two islands named Mayflower Island after the ship, and is next to Parcher island where the survivors found refuge.
Cache is a regular sized ammo can hidden among the small trees. You may have to duck and dive around the foliage to locate the cache. You will likely need a boat, canoe, kayak, or sea-doo to reach this cache. If you take a motorized boat approach the island slowly and carefully as it is rocky. Best to raise the prop and paddle in. Approach from the east to easily disembark, but you will need to get out of the boat and get a bit wet. I do not recommend traveling over the ice in winter as the past few years the ice around the island has been very thin. Public beach and boat launch is indicated in posted waypoints. Distance to island from boat launch and public beach is 2.7 kms so round trip is a little more than 5 kms. Come for the cache and stay for the beach!
For those very adventurous people who want to round off this adventure, I have also added a waypoint showing where the Mayflower now lies. Please do not drop anchor. S.O.S. (Save Ontario Shipwrecks) have anchored a buoy to tie up to to avoid damage to the ship. You can SCUBA down to the wreck or can snorkel off your boat and see some of the top structure. I did once and got the heck outta there. Too spooky for me!
And if you're interested in the full and complete story of the doomed Mayflower you can read the book, "Sinking of the Mayflower" written by Stephen Weir.
Have fun and enjoy the adventure.